Baby Reindeer Star Jessica Gunning Reveals the 'Massive Moment' She Came Out as Gay

Jessica Gunning is proud to embrace her sexuality.

The Baby Reindeer star, 38, appeared as a guest on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast on Monday, June 3, and reflected on the “massive moment” when she was finally able to come out as gay.

In the Netflix hit series, which is inspired by a true story, creator Richard Gadd portrays himself as a character named Donny. He’s ultimately stalked by Gunning’s character, Martha, and sexually assaulted by another.

During the podcast, Gunning opened up about the theme of self-love in the show, before delving into her own experience with the topic. 

“Do you feel like you're stepping into yourself in new ways now?” Smith asked.

“Well, a big thing happened to me and maybe I'll just talk about it. I came out actually in November ‘22,” Gunning replied as Smith welcomed her to the club. 

“Thank you very much. Thank you. And that was a mega, mega thing for me because I, for so long, I'm surrounded by gays,” she said. “Like all my friends are gay. So it wasn't that I was, like, repressing anything. It was just that I didn't think I could be and I still can't articulate it in the best way.”

The English actress stated that before long, her feelings were too strong to deny. 

“But yeah, I realized I was a big old gay. I was like, that's what it's been. That's what it is,” she said.

Gunning added, “And -

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that was like a massive moment where everything kind of clicked. And I made sense of myself then because for so long, I'd thought — and I'm a bigger woman — and I thought maybe it was to do with, like, my size. But I felt a little bit almost alien or like I was tagging along.”

She referred to her coming out as “the most liberating thing” that reminded her of a scene from the show that resonated with her. 

“There's a really emotional thing actually in Baby Reindeer where Donny talks about sleeping for the first time at his parents' house,” Gunning said. 

She then recalled how she was able to rest after her confession.

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“I told my family in Christmas that year and I slept for like 10 hours at night. Yeah, because I kind of was like, ‘Oh, that's what this has been.’ It's been like a little secret, I guess, I've been keeping from myself even,” she said.

Baby Reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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